


What Will Be Left to Defend?

by bettername2come



Series: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust [1]
Category: Jessica Jones (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), repercussions on the Marvel TV characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-02 21:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14554131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettername2come/pseuds/bettername2come
Summary: What did Jessica Jones do the day aliens attacked her city?





	What Will Be Left to Defend?

**Author's Note:**

> The MCU timeline is screwy enough that I feel no guilt in saying Jessica was with Kilgrave during the Battle of New York, despite the wiki page saying otherwise.

There were some moments Jessica really hated living in this city. For instance, moments where a giant alien spaceship appeared in the sky when she was supposed to be getting proof that some rich bastard was cheating on his wife while she was working late nights at Metro-General in the pediatric oncology unit. Jessica crouched on the roof, snapping photos of the cheating asshole and his secretary ( _God, could he be more cliché?)_ when the wind picked up, whipping her hair around her face. She heard an engine above her and tilted the camera upward, expecting to see a helicopter but instead spotting a giant, round spaceship spinning around like a Ferris wheel from hell.

Her finger automatically clicked on the shutter button. “Holy shit!” she exclaimed. She stood and jumped over the edge of the building landing hard but gracefully on the sidewalk below. People were just beginning to react, fleeing the sight as quickly as they could. Not that it would do much good. Traffic everywhere would be gridlocked. Kilgrave had barely been able to get them out of the city when the Battle of New York had happened and that was _with_ mind control powers. She hadn’t wanted to leave then. That instinct to protect others fought against Kilgrave the moment when he said “Go, Jessica!” but she’d been unable to break free then.

She was free now and she was going to help as many people as she could, including the very limited number of people she truly cared about. She grabbed her phone, dialing Trish’s number, glad the alien invasion hadn’t affected cell service…yet.

Trish’s phone rang…and rang…eventually her voicemail picked up. “Hi, this is Trish. Leave a message at the beep.”

“Shit,” Jessica muttered. “Trish, it’s me. I know how we left things. I just – look, there’s a spaceship wreaking havoc on the city, it puts things in perspective. Just call me when you get this. Let me know you’re okay. Don’t do anything stupid. Please.”

Jessica hung up just in time to see a giant chunk of metal hurtling towards the ground, straight where a kid was huddled behind a bench, as if that would protect him from the chaos around him. She leapt through the air, snatching the boy from the sidewalk and rolling away with him, trying not to grip him too tightly as she did. The debris hit a fraction of a second after they had moved.

Jessica pulled away, checking the kid and seeing nothing obvious. “Are you okay?” The boy didn’t react, just continued staring at the spot where the metal had landed. “Hey, kid, are you hurt?”

He finally seemed to snap out of his trance, shaking his head.

Jessica looked around, hoping there was some kind guardian within shouting distance who she could hand the kid off on. She did not want to get stuck with babysitting duty on top of all this, but she couldn’t exactly leave a traumatized kid alone in the street.

“Jacob!”

Jessica breathed a sigh of relief as the boy reached up and hugged the woman who came over, presumably his mother.

The woman glanced back and forth between Jessica, her son, and the hunk of metal laying where he had just been. She locked eyes with Jessica. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Jessica nodded, unsure of what to say as she watched them hurry off. Her phone rang. She reached for her pocket, hoping to see Trish’s name on the screen, only to be disappointed. “I’m guessing this isn’t a social call.”

“Well, I was thinking about getting the gang back together,” Danny said. “Seemed like a good time.”

Jessica glanced up at the sky as Iron Man flew past, chasing after some alien. “I was actually thinking this might be a little above our paygrade. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’m not much good in the sky.”

“I was thinking more like ground work. Let Stark and the spider guy handle the aliens, get as many people off the streets and underground as possible.”

“What, does Rand Enterprises have a secret underground bunker or something?”

Danny’s silence was deafening.

“I was kidding.”

“Colleen already called Claire. She’s supposed to be bringing in Luke. Figured people could use her medical help since the hospitals would be packed. Thought you and Luke would be good for search and rescue.”

“And your super fist?”

“Iron Fist. And if I could actually get within punching distance of an alien it would probably come in handy, but until then, I think money’s gonna have to be my best superpower.”

“Works for the other iron billionaire.”

“Yeah, I keep trying for a team up, but he won’t return my calls.”

Jessica rolled her eyes.

“Are you coming or not?”

Jessica surveyed the damage around her. It wasn’t that far to Danny’s building; she could be there in a couple of minutes if she ran. They could do more together than they could separately; they’d proven that last year. “Yeah. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She hung up without another word and typed a quick text to Trish. _Headed to Rand Enterprises. Danny’s setting up a shelter. Let me know you’re ok._ She hit send and took off for Rand Enterprises.

*

The attack ended more quickly than Jessica would’ve expected. The Battle of New York had taken hours, but this time…she didn’t know what, it was different. She wasn’t sure if that meant the bad guys had accomplished their mission or been defeated. Or if they were watching, waiting for a chance to make another move. According to the news, Tony Stark was missing, which didn’t bode well for the aliens being done. Jessica stayed with Danny and the rest of their ragtag team. There were still warnings out to stay inside, underground if possible. Like hiding would make any difference if monsters from space tried to show their ugly faces again. Still, rescue crews had been checking the damaged areas and they were much less picky about getting help from the local vigilantes than the police were. The next morning she and the others were still trying to get things in some semblance of order around the city ( _better than last time at least_ ), when she heard someone call her name.

“Jess!”

She turned her head quickly at the sound to see Trish sprinting towards her (faster than she should’ve been able to, but Jessica didn’t want to think about that right now). Jessica stood there frozen as Trish collided with her, wrapping Jessica in a (too tight) embrace.

“Oh, thank God, I was so worried, and my cell phone got smashed under rubble.” Trish pulled away. “I guess I was right. Figured Danny Rand was one of the only people you weren’t pissed at.”

 “Yeah, well, he’s one of the only people left who haven’t betrayed me, so…”

The relief started to slip away from Trish’s face.

Jessica sighed. “I’m glad you’re all right,” she said honestly. “I tried to call.”

“You did?” Trish asked hopefully. She sounded so desperate for Jessica’s approval that Jess felt her resolve weaken just a little. Trish had been trying to protect her, right? Hadn’t Jessica killed to protect people she loved? Hadn’t she screwed up the lives of the people around her?

“I was angry. I still am. And I have every right to be. But there’s a difference between being angry and thinking what you did was wrong and wanting to see you dead. That’s what family means.”

Trish took in both sides of Jessica’s statement and nodded. She looked around the scene, where volunteers were still working. “Do you guys need some help?”

Jessica looked back to where Luke was clearing away rubble. “Not sure there’s much left to do here. Everyone who was injured has gotten to the hospital. Danny’s got a shelter set up in his building, but I don’t know – “ Jessica was cut off as she felt Trish grip her arm suddenly. She turned back to her. “Shit, Trish, what are you – “ She didn’t finish her sentence. Trish’s death grip on her arm had released, but not for the reason Jessica had expected. It was gone. Turning to ash before her very eyes.

“What is this?” Trish asked, staring at her rapidly-dissolving arm. She locked eyes with Jessica, who could only stare back in horror. “Jess?”

“No. No, no, no.” Jessica reached for Trish, only to have her sister crumble away beneath her fingers. She stared at the empty space as the ashes blew in the wind, scattering over her clothes and face ( _no, no, not again, not again_ ).

Jessica heard a bloodcurdling scream in the distance that snapped her back to reality. She surveyed her surroundings and realized it wasn’t just Trish who had disappeared. All around her the streets were filled with people now blowing in the wind, confused loved ones left behind. What the hell? Was this their big plan? How? Why?

She wasn’t sure how long she stood there before she heard someone calling her name, before she was wrapped in a warm embrace. She hugged Danny back ( _God, why hadn’t she hugged Trish back?_ ) before pulling away to get a look at him. “What’s going on? Are we under attack? Are we supposed to be fighting someone?” God, she wanted to punch someone right now. She looked up at the sky, just in case there was a ship within jumping distance, but no sign of the attackers were there, just clear blue skies.

“We don’t know,” Colleen spoke up, alerting Jessica to her presence for the first time. “I was talking to Claire, and then she just…”

“Luke too,” Danny whispered. He reached out his arm to bring Colleen in close to his side, as though she were about to slip away too. Which, for all they knew, she might.

“Trish,” Jessica murmured.

“We need to do something,” Danny said, his old eagerness kicking up. “We’ve got to move, find out who these guys are, what they did, how to defeat them. Jess, what should we do?”

“I – I don’t know.”

 


End file.
